


Lab Notes

by the_six_fingered_villain



Category: Glass (2019), Split (2016), Unbreakable (2000)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 02:25:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17458817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_six_fingered_villain/pseuds/the_six_fingered_villain
Summary: Dr Staple records some lab notes.(contains spoilers for the new film)





	Lab Notes

When Casey Cooke turned and walked away from her, Dr Staple fought back an urge to sigh. Instead, she remained on the steps for several minutes, watching the girl climb into the car and tracked it as it slowly drove out of the hospital's grounds. She was running out of time and her best option had just walked out on her. Retreating back to her office, she settled down before her computer and pulled up footage again from the encounter. Again and again she replayed the scene and jotted down notes half heartedly.

 

She'd been so certain that her approach would work. Her dedication to the Shamrock Foundation was unshakable but she was certain that they needed to adapt and that she'd be the one to guide them into the future. It used to be that the signal was lost amongst the noise but now- with the advent of systems specifically designed to sniff out such signal, to sift the the deafening noise of so much information in today's highly connected world- their old approach could no longer work. If the Foundation continued to insist on black ops handling of events, of snuffing out individuals and trying to sweep the corpses and fallout under the rug as if nothing were happening, years of carefully guarded secrecy would be lost. They were only effective if they were unknown, or at least as long as the truth was.

 

They were lucky to catch Elijah so soon. Jennings told her that the previous head of the Foundation has initially believed they'd gotten to him before he could awaken his counterpart but the years had proven that to be wishful thinking. That David had been able to last for so long, nineteen years being by far the longest that she'd heard of in a heavily populated region, suggested to her that they'd at least been able to address the situation before it escalated. These individuals fed off each other and the more they interacted, the more they believed, the more unstable they became. She was certain in the modern world of instant connectivity between individuals anywhere was contributing to the increase in number of cases they were encountering. The only way to win the battle was to move it from the physical, where they were already losing ground, and into the mind. They could not contain these individuals, but she believed she could convince them to contain themselves.

 

Realizing she'd watched the video loop six more times without making a single note, Dr Staple switched back to the live feed of her three patients. Leaning forward, she tapped her pen against her lips in thought, focusing specifically on the feed of Patient Crumb. He was by far proving to be the most receptive of her treatment. She felt the doubt she'd sewn taking seed within him and was hopeful that the treatment would prove to be fruitful. Even if she reported a one in three success back to the Foundation, she'd still be greatly improving their odds. Someone disappearing into the system was always less attention-grabbing than one of the favored "cleanings," though she was disappointed that he was already predisposed to be institutionalized. It did somewhat undermine the validity of her arguments. If only she could reach someone like David, or better yet- Elijah. She knew better than to match wits against one of the hyperintelligent awakened however. Two of three was really the best she could hope for.

 

She speculated it was Hedwig that she watched, given the way he bobbed his head occasionally and swung his arms with the boneless carefree momentum of a youth. He'd claimed Casey was his girlfriend, putting at least one clear marker down on where he stood in terms of sexual development. That note was one of the first she'd made and she found herself dwelling on it, circling it. That the girl had successfully summoned the actual Kevin personality was remarkable given that it appeared to be the same goal shared by man of the alters. Her physical touch had clearly been the catalyst and Dr Staple was certain it was the key to cracking the Horde's belief in themselves. Domestication. It was one of the options available with savage beasts, the other obvious one being of course putting them down.

 

The pen rested against her lower lip and she watched the video under hooded eyes. She wondered if it had to be Casey's touch. It obviously at least had to be... genuine or perhaps just desired. Pursing her lips, she pulled up the incident with Daryl. This particular segment had been fascinating and she'd watched it several times already. Again she wished she could have enough faith in the man to run several trials with the scenario but he wasn't an actual Foundation member. Everyone at this hospital was dim witted and in possession of extremely questionable judgement. While she did wish for more time for her experiment, she was more than ready to return home and leave this wretch hospital behind. 

 

Dr Staple considered her work and the lengths she'd go to ensure her approach proven out. Her lips twisted into a frown and she placed the pen upon the desk. The idea curled in the back of her head and refused to be dislodged. Normally she'd simply note the idea down, the act of pinning it to the page with a pen normally dispelling it, releasing it. This idea, however, she refused to admit or acknowledge and so it continued to plague her. Not only was the idea of trying to seduce the mental equivalent of a nine year old extremely off putting, it was dangerous. The notion, however, continued to flit on the edge of her mental horizon. They'd timed and averaged the duration it took the Beast to emerge, the fact that it seemed to continue to decrease already alarming several individuals, and she knew that she'd be able to escape to safety if needed. 

 

Getting up, she paced the room and the sigh she'd tried to reign in since Casey's departure escaped her. He so clearly longed for a connection, for touch, for what had been denied him. If only she could convince the girl to return, to nurture the bond they'd somehow formed. If only he could bond with a more reasonable alternative. Dr Staple gave her head a shake. She had two other patients she should be considering, thinking about. With great effort, she turned her thoughts towards David. It was easy enough to know what scar, what deficit, Patient Crumb had that she could work her treatment into and use as leverage. David, on the other hand, seemed far less tractable. While the loss of his wife was clearly a painful subject, it didn't seem to impact his belief in his powers in the slightest. Perhaps he was a lost cause no matter what. Having escaped the Foundation for nineteen years, going entirely undetected for a number of them, he'd clearly built up a lot of faith and comfort with his powers.

 

Moving back to her desk, she picked up her pen and made a note of the thought. If her study here showed only that the newly awakened could be treated, that wouldn't be so bad. The Shamrock Foundation was proving quite effective at finding the signal within the noise these days themselves and the window of time between awakening and cleaning was constantly shrinking. Most cases they countered now more closely resembled Patient Crumb's rather than Patient Dunn's.  Her eyes jumped back to the monitor again and she was pulled in watching some new identity pace the room with firm and deliberate steps. Patient Crumb's arms were crossed tightly over his chest and his head was bowed, no doubt whispering to himself again. The muscles of his forearm flexed and she recalled again how effective Casey's hands moving across them had been. A good experiment required multiple tests, changing a single variable.... Again, Dr Staple gave herself a shake and quickly closed the security feed window. She was letting herself get confused. There were far too many variables differentiating herself from the girl for the test to have any validity or value or expected outcomes. Pausing for a long moment, she eventually flipped her notebook open again. 

 

"Physical Response Trials" was all she wrote before closing it again. The thought had been recorded, it could now be banished. She need to focus. Time was running out and she needed her results. In truth none of them had been proven positive yet and she needed to focus on viable approaches, not flights of fancy that yielded questionable what-ifs. Needing to put space between her and the computer that provided far too much access and the notes she'd written, Dr Staple left her office and went down to again prepare for the upcoming operation.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeeeeeeeeeees, I saw the movie! Happy to not have been spoiled. I liked it and like it more as time goes on. Not perfect, yes, but I appreciate what it adds to the broader narrative universe. And it obviously lends itself to fan fiction because holy shit are there some plot points that need, um, "correcting"... know what I mean?
> 
> Side note: can anyone help recall which of the alters are Team Horde?!? I want to write but I need to know this fact!


End file.
